Its About Trust
by Vivian Caidin
Summary: A continuation of Indian Summer. Things are realized about members of the group as Gwendolyn Post comes to town. And an addition of a previous friend shakes up the group.
1. Prologue

TITLE: Its About Trust

DISCLAIMER: Joss owns Buffy, James Cameron owns Dark Angel, Davis Panzer/Gregory Widen owns Highlander, other crossovers to come. "967-5309" is from the song "Jenny (867-5309)".

PAIRING: Xander/Cordelia, Willow/Oz

RATING: FR18 for language and sexual content.

SPOILERS: Dark Angel is set at the end of season 2. Buffy is set during season 3 episode Revelations. Highlander is set after the Series, but before Endgame.

Summary: A continuation of Indian Summer. Things are realized about members of the group as Gwendolyn Post comes to town.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is based on Challenge 1405: Not so broken world submitted by Ladeia, Challenge 400: Immortal Revelation by Teri from Twisting the Hellmouth.

Prologue

…Hello It's Me, I'm Not at Home, If You'd Like to Reach Me, Leave Me Alone"…

"John, hey, it's me, Jessica LaVelle. I know we haven't spoken for a long time. But, I have to tell you about our son Alexander. He's run away and I don't know where he is. Please, if you get this message, call me at (903)867-5309. I'm worried about him, John. So… if you can call me or stop in… feel free."

…Party Like Its 2099…

Xander Harris knew the others were at the Bronze because Oz's band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, was playing there that night.

But since Halloween last year, that type of music did not hold sway with him much anymore. For sure, the club would be jam packed with students from school trying to be seen. The who's who of Sunnydale High School would prowl around there pawing, pressing and driving his enhanced senses crazy with their hormones.

In Willie's Alibi Room, he could sit quietly with relative anonymity. This found him sat at the bar, a glass of scotch in hand as he watched an argument between two demons a little further away from him.

He knew they were nervous when he was around but they knew that as long as they did not try to end the world or kill and eat humans, the demon hunter would leave them alone.

He was not there long when he heard soft footfalls and a familiar scent indicated Her presence. The young man smiled and turned in his seat.

Cordelia Chase tilted her head sideways in that Max-like way she now had and said, "Hey."

He smirked in that Alec like way and responded with, "Hey, yourself."

"So the music was a little loud," Cordelia explained, "but the songs were awesome."

"You're biased because it's Oz," he said quietly as she moved to his side.

She nodded at Willie and the snitch quickly handed her a corona with a lime wedged in the lip of the bottle.

"Of course, his presence makes me biased," she said after she had taken a sip of her beer.

"Pool?" the transgenic asked with a head nod toward the tables.

"You know I won't play you in pool," Cordy said with a smile, "We're too evenly matched. No challenge."

Xander shrugged as he rose from his seat.

The pair walked over to a table in a shadowy corner for some semblance of privacy. There was no privacy to be had when everyone in the bar, except the bartender, had enhanced hearing.

"So…" Cordy trailed off as she leaned against him, her eyes closed in near bliss, "Buffy now knows what we are."

"Yeah," the young man agreed. "But at least we don't have Manticore, the Breeding Cult, or the sector police on our asses."

"Well, there's that."

…It's off to Work We Go…

Since the addition of the Slayers into the group, the dynamics had gotten interesting.

Against Xander's recommendation, there were now two groups of five. He had wanted to split the groups into smaller units, but was overruled. It was decided that both groups would have a Slayer, both groups a transgenic, both groups an Immortal, both groups a magick user, and both groups a Watcher, of course one of the Immortals did double duty as a Watcher. It was not even his decision who was placed where, which had upset him greatly.

The only thing that he liked about his group was the fact that Willow was in it. Initially, he had placed the red head in his group because he wanted to keep an eye on her. He knew she was a little power hungry when it came to her magicks. It was a small consolation that he would be able to continue to do so.

Then, to add insult to injury, Faith's group had the new, council approved Watcher: Post, Gwendolyn added to their roster. He had wanted to observe the woman and run a full background check, but had been overruled on that matter also.

Buffy backhanded her opponent while Xander performed a back flip and hit his vampire in the chin with one of his boots.

Willow sent a fire spell at her vampire while Oz struggled with his opponent.

Giles, not one to sit on the sidelines any longer, shot a few stragglers with his crossbow and lunged at another with his sword.

Buffy staked her vampire and looked around to realize that her friends, and Watcher, were fighting the creatures along side her. She frowned sternly.

Xander elbowed his vampire in the face then a fisted uppercut sent the creature back to the ground a yard away from him.

Oz had finally staked his vampire after a huge struggle and sat on the ground, winded.

Xander wondered how the second group was doing as he continued to toy with the vampire he was fighting.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

…My Better Half…

Jonathon hung back with the crossbow and took care of any vampires that might get the drop on the others in his group. He frowned; he did not like the idea that he was split from Xander and Willow. He was used to fighting with them. He knew how they moved, how they thought during a fight and could easily trust them to keep him safe.

Amy stood, not too far away from him as she flung pencils at other vampires with her magick.

Adam Pierson was no longer content to be a passive bystander. He beheaded his vampire with one swift swipe of his Ivanhoe sword then dove at another vampire to continue the fight.

Faith spun her vampire around and threw it into a standing crypt. It bounced off the stone then skidded to a stop on the ground but popped up quickly and dove at her for round two.

Cordelia dodged the sloppy punches from the vampire she was fighting. She smirked as she spun into a roundhouse kick to the side of the creature's head.

Faith punched her vampire in the stomach and it crash landed to the ground.

Once it was on the ground, the dark Slayer sat on its chest and beat its head in with her fists.

A backhanded blow sent the Slayer sailing through the air to crash land against a headstone.

Cordelia punched her vampire twice more before she staked it.

The vampire dove at the new Slayer to continue their fight. It grabbed Faith and held on, but the young woman stepped down and back to flip it onto the ground. She did not waste any more time and staked it.

Gwendolyn Post sat on a bench and watched the scene as she sipped at the tea in her hand.

"So," Faith asked as she turned to the woman with her hands on her hips, "How was that?"

The Watcher blinked at the ragtag group and remained silent for a long moment.

She rose from her seat and frowned at them, "Sloppy." The woman proceeded to tell her what was wrong with every single move she had made nitpicking every little detail.

"Excuse me," Cordelia interrupted rudely, "Who died and made you boss?"

"The Watchers Council," the woman said firmly as she frowned at the other young woman. "And you other people should not be here," she said for the umpteenth time.

"Like it or not," Amy said with a frown, "We're staying."

"You could take it up with your council," Jonathon said quietly, "But we don't abide by their rules. We're independent Demon Hunters."

The others smirked and agreed.

"Hey, Cordy, do you copy?" Xander's voice quickly spoke into the group's sub-vocal communicators located in their ears.

"Yeah, come in," she responded as she tapped her ear to activate the mic.

"We need help in Sector 4," he said.

"Sector 4?" Faith snapped as she turned her attention on the other brunette.

"He means cemetery 4," Jonathon translated with an eye roll.

…I Don't Need no one …

"I don't need another Watcher, G," Faith protested as she followed Giles up the stairs to the second floor of the library.

They were the only people in the library at the moment and she was trying to get him to send Miss Bitch away.

"Unfortunately, Faith," Giles said as he cleaned his glasses, "it is not up to you or I."

Faith frowned as she followed him between two rows of bookshelves.

"Please, G, surely you understand…"

"If the council feels that you need someone else… I have to cooperate with their judgment."

"This is just plain mean," the young woman protested, deeply upset as she stormed out of the library.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

…Back to School Again…

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat as the teacher droned on about World War II. History was, by far, the most boring class that he had to attend.

Mr. Lipski hummed a dirty eraser at the young man asleep in his class.

Surprised, stunned, he watched as the teen caught said eraser and eyed him with annoyance.

"What did I just say, Mr. Harris?" he asked sternly as the young man threw the eraser to him and he caught it.

Xander sighed heavily, blinked lazily at the teacher and recited, "The war in Europe began in September 1939, when Germany, under Chancellor Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland. Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany but took little action over the following months. In 1940, Germany launched its next initiative by attacking Denmark and Norway, followed shortly thereafter by attacks on Belgium, the Netherlands and France. All of these nations were conquered rapidly. What are you doing? Mr. Harris, are you awake? What did I just say, Mr. Harris?"

That the young man was able to spit his words back to him ver batum astounded the teacher. He nodded stiffly and continued with the lecture.

The young man closed his eyes once more, leaned back in his seat and continued to listen.

…The Wisdom to be Wise…

"Just find out all you can about this demon," Giles said in frustration to Xander as he frowned, rose from his seat and stormed into his office. The door slammed loudly behind him.

Xander scratched the back of his head thoughtfully as he looked around the room at the books on all of the book shelves. 'There has to be a faster way of getting the information than going to the books every time we need to find a demon,' he thought to himself as he rose from his seat and went to the stacks to help the Immortal. 'Something where we can cross reference information…' his thoughts trailed off as he looked toward the closed door of Giles' office.

'Oh, I know what I'll do,' he thought to himself as he continued to look through the books as he thought of his plan and made mental notes for later.

…Walk the Dead in a Solitary Style…

Creeping along low to the ground, Xander stealthily made his way to the Von Lichtenstein family crypt.

His nostrils flared as he scented the night, his pupils were overlarge which helped him see in the pitch blackness of the new moon.

For a long moment, the young transgenic crouched low in a stand of bushes and trees as he watched his surroundings. Finally he stepped out, silently and made his way to the crypt.

He frowned sardonically as he tilted his head at the faint grinding noises that he could hear.

Xander dove back into the copse of trees and bushes as the stone began to roll away.

He frowned as he made out a dark figure as it turned and closed the stone to the crypt.

He shook his head as he smelled a familiar scent that he never expected to smell again.

He made the decision to tail the shadowy figure.

The X5 easily trailed the figure to the Crawford Street mansion.

As he watched from across the street, Xander frowned as he observed Angel and Buffy kissing.

'What the hell?' he thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

…Heat...

Cordelia Chase took off her jacket and lay down on her bed, ready to sleep as much as she could for the night.

She heard a vehicle approach and got up to investigate.

At the window, she recognized a black hummer in the backyard at the house she had lived in all her life.

She frowned and jumped out of the window to land in a crouch on the spongy, wet grass.

She easily fought the first of the two soldiers.

The second one tackled her and spun her around. He shoved her into the hard, red brick.

She grappled with him, got his gun away from him and threw it away from them. She hated guns.

"Remove your clothes," she demanded as she looked up at him.

His dark eyes trained on her, "What did you say?"

"You heard me, soldier," she said with a near growl, "Double time."

Suddenly it morphed and they were in her bedroom, the other soldier long forgotten.

The soldier began to strip as futuristic techno music began to pump into the room from unseen speakers.

"Over to the bed," she demanded with a little jerk to her head.

The soldier smirked in a cocky manner as he did what she told him to do.

Cordy had an answering smirk as she sat on his… lap. She trailed her hands down his chest and stopped at his abs.

"What the hell is this?" Alec asked as the soldier morphed into him.

She looked at him sternly, "What are you doing here, Alec?"

He smirked in that self satisfied manner, "This is your dream, Maxie, you should know."

"Oh, God," she said as she woke up. "I'm in heat."

…I'll Play Hookie...

Cordelia was not at school today.

He had paged her several times, but she did not respond. Xander was getting frustrated. He had to tell her about last night. Maybe they could do reconnaissance tonight so that she would be able to corroborate his story if that was needed.

Finally, during lunch, the young transgenic had received a return on his many calls.

"I'm hittin' you back," she said over the line.

"What's going on?" he asked worriedly, "Why aren't you here?"

"I'm not feelin' good today," she said by way of explanation.

"I'm not buyin' it," he responded. "You're like me, you don't get sick."

"Can't a girl get a day of RnR without bein' harped on about it?" she snapped without really meaning it.

"No," he said sharply. "Meet me tonight at Wakefield for field reconnaissance, near the Von Lichtenstein crypt."

"I can't," Cordy said, "I have this thing."

"Bullshit, Max," he interrupted in a hard tone of voice, "You've gotta watch my six tonight… you're the only one I trust here, other than Giles, and he's got a thing."

She sighed heavily, frowned and said, "I'll be there." She hung up before he could say anything else.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

…Red Handed...

Cordelia reached the other transgenic's side.

Xander looked at her, had an odd look in his eyes but remained silent as she moved to his side.

She smiled up at him in a way too friendly manner as the young man looked away and focused on the crypt.

"So what am I doing out here?" she asked as she looked up at him curiously trying to ignore her attraction to him.

"Something's fishy around here…" he said thoughtfully as he looked down at her then looked off toward the direction of the mansion in distraction. "Follow me," he said as he ran off into the night.

She easily kept up with him. "What's up?" she tried again to get him to tell her what was going on.

"Just wait a minute," he said quietly, "I wanted someone else to see this before I decided the next course of action."

"See what?" she asked as they reached the mansion. She looked up and over, "What are we doing at Angel's old place?"

He gave her the hand signal to keep quiet as they moved into the same spot he had stood in the other night.

She looked in through the window and all of her senses went on high alert as she spotted Buffy and Angel in the interior of the mansion.

After a long, stunned silence, she said, "It can't be."

"It looks like it is," he said darkly, "I thought she killed that son of a bitch."

Cordelia looked up at him, concentrating on the details of his face.

Xander looked down at her and smiled seductively at her, "I'm glad I'm here with you now."

"What?" she snapped her attention on him, daydream fading.

"I'm glad you saw the same thing I saw," he said as his brow creased and he frowned. "We've gotta tell Giles," Xander said as he turned away from the mansion.

The pair headed to the Watcher's house, all the while Cordelia was more focused on him than where she was going. She tripped one too many times along their route.

Once they reached Giles' shotgun house, they easily broke into the house through the back and heard voices in his living room. They could not make out the words as they were too low.

Xander made a motion for the other X5 to stay there as he moved into the living room and announced his presence, "Giles, we have to have a serious discussion."

The young man noticed the woman with him and frowned.

"Excuse us, please, Gwendolyn," Giles said as he escorted the young man into the kitchen.

"Loving it up with the lady watcher, huh Giles?" Xander asked with a nod and a smirk as his thoughts immediately turned dirty.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

…Sometimes You Gotta Play Dirty…

"I got the Michael Jackson glove out of the crypt," Buffy said as she entered the library the next morning.

Willow stood near the book shelves with a frown on her face.

Xander stood near the table, his face blank of all emotion.

Giles stood at the counter, cleaning his classes.

She stopped and looked around at everyone, "Why the long faces? I said I got the thingie."

Xander walked away from the table, he moved as far away as he possibly could from the Slayer.

Buffy moved over to the table and placed her book bag on it.

"We know Angel is alive, Buffy," the Watcher said with a frown as he slipped on his glasses. "You've been hiding him for some time now and you lied to us about it."

"Buffy, you need help," Willow said as she moved over to her friend and placed a comforting hand on her arm.

Buffy shook her off as she said, "You've got it wrong."

"I don't think we do," Xander said in a very quiet tone, nearly a whisper.

Buffy looked at Xander with a shocked expression on her face.

"I can't believe this!" the Slayer exclaimed.

"Last time 'Angel' was around," Xander snarled, "Giles was tortured nearly to death and the bastard killed Ms. Calendar." Buffy did not need to know that Giles was Immortal.

Buffy shook her head, "But he's better now."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Xander exclaimed loudly as he threw a book across the room. It landed with an explosive burst of sound.

Everyone flinched.

He continued, resolutely, "Did you even think about the consequences of harboring a vicious predator?"

"I don't need a crisis intervention, here," Buffy said as she turned toward the exit.

"I think you do," Giles said with deep disappointment lacing his voice. "You wouldn't have hid this from us if you didn't think it was wrong."

"I wanted to figure out how he came back before I said anything to you guys," the Slayer said.

Xander frowned; her heartbeat and respiration were too fast for that to be true. The X5's head lowered, his eyes became hooded and his posture became threatening, "You think a psycho vamp is safe? What about the next time you fuck him?"

"We're not like that!" Buffy protested as she looked at her friend in shock.

Xander's eyes narrowed to slits, and his voice became dangerously quiet, "I've heard that before, nothing good ever came from that relationship either. And you WERE kissin' him!" The last was bellowed loudly which had everyone flinching once more.

Willow gave the dark haired young man a sharp look then turned back to Buffy as though she were watching a tennis match.

Buffy stepped to the transgenic, threatening, "You were spyin' on me?"

Not one to be easily intimidated anymore, the transgenic looked at her as though he were looking at someone dead to him, "Yeah, I'll admit it… I saw you playin' tonsil hockey with your friendly, neighborhood demon."

"That was an accident," the Slayer protested with a frowned.

The X5 nodded in a condescending manner, "Right, like you tripped and fell on his lips."

"If I thought that Angel would hurt anyone…" she began.

Xander cut her off with a sarcastic laugh, "You'd stop him. Just like you did when he murdered Ms. Calendar."

"When it comes to Angel, Buffy," Giles stammered, "I feel that you don't see straight."

"But he's better, I swear," Buffy protested vehemently, "He's keeping that glove safe for us at the mansion."

Xander rubbed the back of his neck in aggravation, "Great! Leave weaponry with Fang Face… then when the shit hits the fan, we get to clean up your mess just like always." He threw his hands up in the air as he walked backwards toward the exit, "Whatever! Just leave the hunter teams out of it. As far as Angel is concerned, you're on your own." He turned around and made his way toward the door.

Buffy rushed to him and tried to grab him by the arm.

With a move that the Slayer was unfamiliar with, the transgenic easily deflected her arms and hop-stepped away from her.

"And this has nothing to do with you being jealous of him because he has me instead of you?" the blonde accused.

A growl, low in Xander's throat, was the only warning the Slayer had before the young man sprung into action.

He did not want to hurt her, so using aiki-jitsu he deflected her painlessly to the floor quicker than the eye could see.

"Get over yourself, bitch," the X5 said darkly as he loomed over her threateningly, "I've been over you for a long time."

The others were stunned into silence.

"Giles, I'll call ya later," the young man said as he straightened to his full height. He then turned back toward the door to continue leaving, "Got some plans for the magick books that we need to discuss. Maybe you can set up a meeting with all the MUs for later in the week."

"Sure thing, Xander," Giles said with a frown. He never wanted the transgenic angry with him, he was positive of that.

Buffy watched Xander's retreating back with a frown. 'What the frilly heck is his trauma?' she wondered to herself in confusion.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

…Divide and Conquor Has Always Been an Effective Technique…

Xander sat at the bar in Willie's Alibi Room and nursed his glass of bourbon. The amber liquid burned a path down his gullet and settled warmly. He knew that with his high metabolism, he would only burn the liquor out of his system and not get drunk.

He frowned and thought of what happened earlier at school.

It was also aggravating that Cordelia was home sick again today. 'What the hell is wrong with her?' he wondered to himself. He contemplated going to visit her when he felt the presence of someone at his elbow.

"You look pissed," she said after a long moment of silence.

The transgenic remained silent as he took another sip of the liquor, seemingly ignoring her.

"Talk to me," Faith Lehane sounded sympathetic, but there was a minute inflection of anger that he could hear in her tone.

"I'd rather sit here alone, thanks," Xander said darkly.

"I know there was a meeting earlier today…" she said as she sat down next to him. "Talking behind my back?"

The X5 turned to her, dark eyes flashing dangerously, "Is that what you think?" it was said harder than he had meant.

"Laughing at me for not bein'..."

He cut her off with a frown, "We were not discussing the other members of the team, you included."

At the brunette's sarcastic scoff the young man slammed his empty glass onto the bar.

"We were confronting a friend about her obsessive-compulsive disorder, tryin' to get her some help."

The upset expression on the young man's face led Faith to believe that he was telling the truth.

Xander hunched down over the bar, "Our plans went sideways and she's in even more denial than ever," he frowned. "We thought that less would be more in confronting her with her problem. She didn't want to listen to us."

Faith looked shocked as she turned her dark eyes on him.

The young man rose from his seat after he put a five on the counter, "I'm outa here."

Following with her eyes, Faith watched as the young transgenic left.

…Confrontation…

Most people would think that going alone to confront a vampire was the wrong thing for an angry young human to do. Good thing he was not completely human anymore.

Breaking into the vampire's lair was almost too easy in the young transgenic's opinion. This was Xander's thought as he slipped silently into an upstairs bedroom through a window.

Crouched low, the young man stalked stealthily through the large house looking for the bastard.

He finally noticed the vampire in the ballroom and watched for a long moment with a dark, angry expression on his face.

Not long after he had been standing there, Angel sensed his presence and all movement from the vampire stilled. Semblance of life faded away into a dead calm.

Looking around for the threat, Angel finally spotted Xander in a dark corner of the room. "Always good to see a friendly face," Angel said sarcastically.

"We were never friends, Fang Face," the young man said in an emotionless tone as he moved further into the interior of the room.

"Why is that?" Angel asked, "I mean we're on the same side."

"Right," the X5 said with a scoff. "We were on the same side when you killed Jenny and when you tortured Giles."

"That was Angelus," the vampire protested.

Sardonic laughter echoed throughout the large room, "Keep tellin' yourself that and you might believe it. There's not much difference between you and him. Same thing with me and my brother, only I never took up amateur dental surgery as a hobby." In that regard, Xander understood more about what was going on with Angel than he really let on… he was probably the only one around who would be able to sympathize with the vampire, or Cordy. He understood even more due to the duality of his nature now, it was almost as though Xander was yin and Alec was yan. But he hardened his resolve against the vampire as he lifted his fists psyching himself up for a fight.

"You don't have a brother," Angel was sure of that fact.

"What you think you know, Angie, doesn't even scratch the surface. You don't know anything about me," the young man said as he crouched into a low fighting stance.

"So what are we going to do? Throw down?" the vampire asked as he circled away from the young man's advance. "You don't stand a chance," the vampire said with confidence as he frowned at the young man.

Alec smirked, assassin mode completely in place, "I'll give you a fightin' chance."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

…Standing Six Feet One Inch Tall, Weighing in at a Mangy 178 Pounds, Monty Cora!…

"I know you're just jealous 'cause I got to Buffy first," Angel snarked at Xander, hoping he would anger the young man into an early, poorly thought out attack.

Xander was used to high verbal, especially during a fight, so the comment did not affect him as he continued to circle and remained silent.

Angel slowly walked in the other direction as he tried to find any weakness in the young man's stance.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, Xander said in disgust, "This is not about Fluffy the Vampire Layer."

"So you would ruin your friendship with her just to get me out of the picture?" the vampire asked as he moved into Xander and tried to punch him.

"She'd eventually get over it," Alec responded as he surprised Angel by blocking every single punch the vampire threw even though the moves got faster and faster.

As Angel finally threw in some kicks for good measure, he realized the young man fighting him was a better match than he originally thought.

"Is that all you got, vampire?" Xander taunted as he sent a powerful blow to Angel's solar plexus that drove him back several feet. "I can get more of a workout walkin' down the street in the rain."

Angel dove back into the fight.

Xander tried to hit him again, but the vampire grabbed the young man's wrist and tossed him away.

Xander was up and back into the fray as though nothing had happened.

He grabbed the vampire by the arms, fell down and back as he kicked out with one of his powerful legs and catapulted Angel end over end.

Growling, the transgenic blurred over to the vamp as he rose to his feet and stabbed a knife into his shoulder.

In pain, the vampire roared and punched out at Xander blindly catching him in the face with his full strength.

Instead of taking the young man's head off, the X5 turned slightly to the side as he took the blow.

What followed was a beating the likes of which the vampire had never experienced in his unlife as the X5's solid fists pummeled the demon relentlessly, punishing.

Angel fell to the ground at the surprisingly powerful onslaught.

Xander had a dead look in his eyes as he pulled a stake out from the back of his black BDUs.

Angel surprisingly peaceful as he locked gazes with the young man and with pleading in his dark eyes, he said, "Please… kill me."

…Eternal Flame…

Johnathon and Willow, under Giles' tutelage worked to create the potion called The Living Flame.

Willow stirred the contents of the cauldron as Johnathon worked the mortar and pestle.

"We'll have to test this stuff," the budding mage said with a frown as he put more herb into the mixture. The more he thought, the more he worried that it might not work.

"I don't think we will," Willow sounded suspiciously confident.

Johnathon frowned as he looked at her.

Giles cleaned his glasses as he looked at the young people, "I know what the glove does."

Two pairs of eyes trained curiously on the Watcher who had his nose in a book.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

...Then You Stabbed Me in the Back… Betrayed!...

Trying to get two Slayers to stop fighting was nigh on impossible as Xander watched the two evenly matched young women trade blows almost wishing that he had supplied mud.

Growling in frustration as he was pushed away from the fight by Buffy, he shook his head and turned his attention to what was going on elsewhere.

He noticed Gwendolyn Post, the newest Watcher in their midst swing and hit his best friend and sister in the face with the glove.

He watched the bitch from where he stood as he tried to think of a plan to get the glove away from her. He jumped down from the second story balcony and landed lightly on his feet, then headed toward the woman.

Crackling energy from the previously unknown magick user slammed around him and created a force bubble to contain him. Xander growled and kicked at the force field, blue energy crackled in a sphere surrounding him then dissipated, he had to wait for the spell to go away. He could only watch in desperation as Ms. Post slipped the gauntlet onto her own forearm and began the ritual.

Willow rose from the floor, at this point she was the only one who could do anything to disrupt the spell.

The fake Watcher began to fling bolts of energy at everyone she could see.

Willow tried to tackle Gwendolyn, but the woman sensed movement and pulled her arm back to attack the red head.

Xander roared a warning and watched helplessly as energy flew out of the glove toward his best friend.

Suddenly, Angel rushed into the path and took the lightning meant for the witch.

Struggling through electrocuting pain, the vampire grimaced and forced his way to the woman ignoring the pain as he shakily walked toward her.

With the bitch being distracted, Buffy and Faith worked together to subdue Ms. Post.

"You can't do anything to me now," the betrayer said with a laugh as she flung another energy bolt towards Faith.

Released from the force of the lightning, Angel rushed to the woman and grabbed her gloved arm while Buffy rushed in from behind and with a sword she had pulled from the wall, severed the woman's arm.

Gwendolyn screamed. As she realized her arm was in the vampire's grasp and not a part of her body, the woman passed out.

Once she was out, the spell surrounding the transgenic dissipated and he rushed over to the others.

He shared a meaningful look with the vampire as if to say, 'For this we're even.'

…Are You Ready! For What's to Come...

Xander Harris snuck down the hall easily avoiding the adults as he made his way to his girlfriend's bedroom.

His sensitive ears picked up nearly silent footfalls headed in his direction and he looked for a place to hide. The door across from him was unlocked so he quickly snuck into the linen closet and closed the door.

Listening, he heard the person move down the hall and away so he opened the door and swiftly headed to her bedroom.

Opening the door, he found that she was not there.

Frowning, the young man looked out of the window and down toward the pool. Like a beacon in the night, he noticed a faint light in the pool house.

Opening the window, he stepped out onto the ledge and jumped the two stories to easily land on his feet. He then quickly moved to the area by the pool and subsequently into the pool house.

Listening, the young man heard the water running in the shower and smiled. He moved over to the kitchen and poured himself a large glass of water.

He drained half the glass as he moved over to the sofa and sat down as he waited for the young woman to finish her toiletry.

He heard the shower turn off and knew it would not be long now.

His senses jumped to high alert as the young woman exited the bathroom, towel wrapped sarong-like around her athletic, genetically enhanced body, another towel wrapped around her hair. He looked at her and knew something was off about her.

She noticed his presence in the room and smiled in a very friendly manner as she leaned against the door jamb. "Alec," she said in a syrupy sweet tone of voice.

Nostrils faired instinctively and he caught a scent of why she had been away from school since Monday.

The animal in him recognized the animal in her and he was trying to control the affect the pheromones her body produced had on him during this time.

The pair crashed together as she began ripping his clothes off in an uncontrollable, animalistic manner.

He growled in response as he tore the towels away from her hair and body.

Pulling away from one another, the pair looked at each other for a long, intense moment.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Alec asked with some small measure of control as he looked at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"I'm almost at the end of it," Cordelia said through high respiration as she watched every move he made as he finished removing his clothes. "I've been swimming and doing push ups, but it doesn't help… but you can help."

She dove at him once more arms and legs locked around him as the pair met for another fiery kiss.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

…Good Day, Sunshine…

The next day found the whole group assembled in the Library.

Jonathon had opted out of the Science Club in order to spend time with his friends from the hunting groups. Needless to say, this had pissed Warren and Andrew off enough that it had destroyed their friendship.

Amy sat at a totally different table than the others working ahead on her homework so that she would not fall behind in her classes. She appeared to be obsessed about it so everyone left her alone so that she could get it done.

Buffy and Willow sat at the main table, Oz not far away from his girl earphones on his head, as they talked and giggled in hushed voices. Blonde and red heads bent toward one another as though they had isolated themselves from the group.

Surprisingly, Faith was there. She sat on the floor leaning against the wall. She watched the blonde and the red head with a jealous eye and a frown on her face.

Both Immortals stood near the counter and watched the motley group of youngsters.

The only ones missing were Xander and Cordelia, the pair had not shown up for school today.

"So Myhnegon's Gauntlet is no more?" Adam asked as he looked over at Giles.

"The Living Flame worked nicely," the Watcher said as he wrote in his ledger.

"So everything turned out alright in the end?" the ancient asked as he looked over at the giggling teens in near disgust.

"Well, not completely okay, there seems to be a division in the group now with the advent of Buffy and Xander's argument."

"I noticed that," Adam said with a frown.

"I don't know how they'll fix this," Giles said as he cleaned his glasses.

"Everything should work out eventually," Adam said as he clapped his friend on the shoulder.

Just then, hand in hand, Xander and Cordelia strolled into the School Library. Surprisingly, the pair had been able to resist the call of the wild, and did not make love last night. Though, the young man had helped out, and they had had a lot of fun in the process of curbing their animal instincts.

Buffy's laughter died down and completely stopped when she spotted the young man and an angry expression stole onto her face.

Buffy stood up and walked over to stand in front of Xander, arms folded across her chest. "What are you doing here?" the Slayer demanded angrily.

Everyone's attentions were drawn to Xander and Buffy in concern.

"I'm here because I'm part of the group," the transgenic said as he automatically went on the defensive.

"You ratted me out to Giles, and beat the shit out of Angel," she said as she got up in his face not an easy task since he was almost foot taller than her. "That's not what I call a team player," the blonde said as she put her fists on her hips.

No longer easily intimidated, the dark haired young man folded his arms across his chest and looked down at her, an angry expression on his own face now that she was confronting him, "That's right, Slayer, I did… I was lookin' out for you and the others. There is no I in team, it's about the whole unit."

"Come on, Buffy," Willow said with a moue of worry on her lips as she touched the blonde on her shoulder.

Buffy shoved her arm off as she glared at the transgenic. "You don't belong here," she said as she pointed at Xander.

Willow frowned, more offended than anything as she went back to her chair.

The X5 laughed, "That's rich, Buffy," he said with a nod. His laughter stopped nearly instantly as that dead look stole into his eyes and he looked at her emotionlessly.

The Slayer was stunned by what she saw in his eyes. She could find no emotion, nothing to indicate what he was feeling.

He leveled a glare at her and said, "You can do what you want, but I'm gonna stay here and help my friends survive high school." His tone was very quiet, dangerous as he continued, "You're not the boss of me so you can't tell me what to do."

The young man prowled more than walked over to the counter, hopped up onto it and beat his feat together as he looked around at everyone.

"Just for the record," the female X5 said as she looked at Buffy with a frown on her face, "You need help." She walked over to Willow and sat down next to her offering an apology for the blonde and a hand of comfort to a sad friend.

Buffy raised her eyebrows as she watched everyone go back to what they were doing. She frowned as she saw Faith rise from the floor and move to sit next to Cordelia.

The transgenic turned and looked at the Slayer sitting next to her.

Faith looked at her for a long, silent moment. It was almost as though she were begging the other girl to like her.

Cordy smiled in a friendly manner then included her in their conversation. Faith reminded her of Sam, her clone; it was too close to home.

Buffy frowned deeply before she turned to the exit, "I'm outa here."


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue

…The Berrisford Agenda…

Xander had walked into Willie's bar and ordered a drink. He sat down nursing his bourbon and thought about what had happened in the Library earlier. Perhaps he had been a little hard on her, he contemplated.

Glancing down at the other end of the bar, he noticed Buffy talking to a scaly demon. She noticed him and frowned. Resolved, she moved over to him.

"Hey," the young man said quietly as she reached his side.

"You drinking now, Xander?" she eyed him like he had grown another head.

"You fuck vampires and you're gonna rib me for this?" he questioned. "I ain't drunk, Buffy, not gonna go that route."

The blonde sighed deeply, "I'll talk to you later," she turned to leave.

"Hey," he called after her and she stopped. "You know I was made in a lab, I can hold my liquor."

"Spare me," Buffy said as she turned back to him, "I just don't understand why you act the way you do. All beating up Angel and turning on me. Why can't you understand what's going on?"

Xander sighed as he took a long sip from his glass.

"See, Buffy, the thing is," he said as he rose from his seat and moved to a table in the back.

The blonde followed him and sat across from him.

"I do understand, more than you know. I understand exactly the division between good and evil. I suffered for it then, and I don't want to see you go through all that."

"I'm sorry," the blonde said with a scowl, "I didn't…"

He looked at her as he scratched the back of his head, "I don't wanna see the things that happened to me, happen to you."

After a long stretch of silence he spoke again, "I know you love him, but I don't want to see you hurt. You're like a sister to me, I wouldn't have done all those things if I didn't care."

"I kinda knew that," Buffy said as she gave a half smile.

"Since we're talking about difficult things, I figure I can tell you something," Xander said as he took another sip of the amber liquid and looked at the glass as he spun it on the table.

She looked at him curiously though she remained silent.

"I had to do this job," he began with a frown. "I had to get close to this family, watch the dad. But he had a daughter."

She watched him intently now, he never spoke about that other place and this was the first time that he had said word one about it.

His fingers trailed in the condensation left by the glass on the table and drew caricatures. "I fell for her, Buffy, I fell hard. She had… life and light... and it made the dark places in my soul shine with her warmth."

He looked at her and Buffy noticed a single tear roll down his cheek.

"Sounds wonderful," she said with a Mona Lisa smile, "What went wrong?"

"I was commanded to kill them," the transgenic looked back at the table. "I tried to warn them, to protect them, but they wouldn't listen. I wouldn't kill 'em, Buffy, but they died because of me."

"Xander, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," he said as he looked at her.

Into the comfortable silence he said, "Thanks, Buffy." The dark haired young man drained rest of the liquor from his glass.

"Are we okay?" the Slayer asked as she tilted her head to the side to look at him.

"Yeah," Xander said with a nod as he gave her a sideways hug, "we're good." 'For now at least,' he thought silently as he released her.


End file.
